CREEDE HINSHAW: The Balfour Declaration turns 100

Last week marked the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, the document drawn up by Arthur Balfour, the wealthy English aristocrat who was the British Foreign Secretary in Prime Minister David Lloyd George’s government in 1917.

In the fierce, final year of World War I, the British were closing in on what was then called Palestine when Balfour, encouraged by Zionist Chaim Weizmann, composed the brief statement.

Reviewing the history preceding that historic agreement and the events following it has reminded me that the creation of Israel was far more complex than the stroke of a pen. Nothing about Jewish and Palestinian relations has been simple or straightforward over the past 100 years. For that matter, few things have been simple for these people for centuries. Palestinians and Jews both believe they have the true, simple narrative that will solve the statehood issue.

Even the name “Palestinian” was not used exclusively to describe the Arabs over the previous century. From 1900-50 Jews and Arabs living in the what was called Palestine (controlled by the decrepit Ottoman Empire) were both called Palestinians. For the most part, these local Jews and Muslims got along well.

But a growing movement was afoot for the Jews to find a homeland. As many as 34 different locations were proposed over the years, including Alaska. As World War I began winding down, the key players — England, France, Germany and Russia — like greedy children — began scheming on how to carve up the Middle East after the collapses of the disintegrating Ottoman Empire.

Simon Sebag Montfiore’s acclaimed 2011 “Jerusalem: The Biography” tells the history of this sacred, contested city through millennia of building, razing, war, peace, conquest, defeat and faith of Christian, Muslim and Jew. His chapters on the events of 100 years ago fill in details long since glossed over.

Although much grandiose language has been written about the century-old Balfour Declaration the machinations behind the scenes were hardly as noble as Britain would like to claim. Though the British genuinely wanted to help the Jews, at the same time they wanted to block the “atheist” French from controlling Palestine and wanted the glory of both capturing and administering the city of Jerusalem for themselves and for empire.

Lloyd George — at the same time his government issued the Balfour Declaration — was secretly negotiating with the ruling Ottomans to possibly reach an agreement with the Turks that would have left them in charge of the sacred city. The British ardor for a Jewish homeland was not as pure as they painted it.

The declaration never used the word statehood, a concept the British didn’t favor for the Jews. Balfour and the British government saw themselves as administrators for this region, naively believing they could bring peace and stability with savvy administration. Furthermore, the document stated, in favor of the Palestinians, “that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities.”

The Palestinians have felt betrayed ever since the Balfour Declaration was issued, and although there are two sides as to whether the Palestinians relinquished opportunities to accept a partitioned state, the fact is that the world seems no closer to arriving at a solution to a chain of events set in motion 100 years ago this month.

The Balfour Declaration represents much that is good — namely the State of Israel — but much was either ignored or unanticipated 100 years ago and we are still searching for an answer to how two peoples can live in peace with each other.

Contact Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].